 I always saw eating alone as more of a blessing than a curse. No rush, no conversation to make, no chewing to witness from across the table. Whether it was grabbing food in town before going to the cinema, eating dinner in a hotel restaurant while on a work trip or having pizza and cheap red wine in Venice on a solo holiday, I always enjoyed when it was just me, my food, and a healthy dose of people watching to pass the time. But this isn't the type of blessing I'd expect to pay for twice. Yet this week, I found out that if I was dining solo at the luxury restaurant, Alex Dilling at the Hotel Café Royal – I'd be expected to fork out the price of two dinners, even if I was just eating one. The double Michelin-starred eatery charges £350 for a table for two for its tasting menu and charges the exact same price for a person who is dining alone – and next month it is due to rise £40 – meaning eating with just your own company will cost almost £400. Only the privileged few would be able to split that kind of cost between two, let alone one – but it's yet another example of how people are being stung with the 'single tax' during a cost of living crisis. The owners justified their pricing by explaining that they 'only have 11 tables in the restaurant, which means that we do require a minimum spend for two people for solo diners'. There I was, naively assuming that the prices on a menu were assigned to the food, rather than the spaces on the table. WIN a year's supply of Sheep Dog Peanut Butter Whiskey Love peanut butter, love whiskey, love to indulge? This one's for you! We're giving three Metro.co.uk readers the opportunity to win a year's supply of Sheep Dog, the nation's favourite peanut butter Whiskey. Loaded with flavours of vanilla, rich caramel corn and whiskey undertones, finishing with butterscotch, subtle oak and coffee, Sheep Dog takes your peanut butter experi){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
I always saw eating alone as more of a blessing than a curse.
No rush, no conversation to make, no chewing to witness from across the table.
Whether it was grabbing food in town before going to the cinema, eating dinner in a hotel restaurant while on a work trip or having pizza and cheap red wine in Venice on a solo holiday, I always enjoyed when it was just me, my food, and a healthy dose of people watching to pass the time.
But this isn’t the type of blessing I’d expect to pay for twice.